An explosive-laden dinghy had struck a Japanese oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz shortly after midnight on July 28, The Emirati state news agency said on Friday. It's the first official confirmation the incident was an attack. The WAM news agency quoted an unnamed government official as saying the investigation revealed traces of homemade explosives on the hull of M. Star supertanker, which was damaged in the Strait of Hormuz - the waterway for 40 percent of tanker-shipped oil worldwide. WAM said investigators believe a small boat with explosives had approached the tanker. A crew member was injured. On Wednesday, a statement from a militant group calling itself the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, which is linked to Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the incident. “An examination carried out by specialized teams has confirmed that the tanker has been the subject of a terrorist attack,” the state news agency WAM said, quoting an unidentified coastguard source. “UAE explosives experts who collected and examined samples found a dent on the starboard side above the water line and remains of home-made explosives on the hull,” the source said. A spokeswoman for shipowner Mitsui O.S.K. said the company could not confirm details of the WAM report. “The investigation on the tanker is still continuing, and while we are looking at all possibilities, the company has not heard anything that will help determine the cause of the damage,” she said. The report said the M. Star had left UAE waters to resume its voyage to Japan and trade sources confirmed the ship's departure. Industry sources said the tanker carried more than 2 million barrels of Qatar Land and Abu Dhabi Lower Zakum crudes, equivalent to about half of Japan's daily oil needs. Bordered by Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, the narrow Strait of Hormuz handles 40 percent of the world's seaborne oil and is patrolled by US and other warships. Al Qaeda has threatened to attack shipping there in the past. A Japanese Foreign Ministry official had no immediate comment on the report. Mitsui President Koichi Muto said he did not rule out the possibility that an attack caused damage to the ship, the Nikkei business daily said on Friday. The ship was smashed in on the starboard side of its hull above the water line and a lifeboat was blown off the deck and windows and doors were smashed.
